Method and apparatus for playing pool

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for playing pool on a pool table is disclosed. A raised stand is located on the pool table and pool balls are hit into an indentation on the raised stand. For example, a plurality of pool balls is arranged in a starting position on the playing surface of the pool table. The plurality of pool balls is comprised of an object ball and a plurality of different sets of pool balls. Players alternate turns wherein each player attempts to hit balls from a set of pool balls assigned to that player into pockets in the pool table using a pool cue and a cue ball. The game ends when the object ball is hit into an indentation on a top level of the raised stand once a player has hit all of their assigned balls into the pockets

This application is a Continuation-In-Part application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/798,085, filed on Mar. 29, 2010, and entitled“Method and Apparatus for Playing Pool”, and this application expresslyclaims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/798,085, and isincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus forplaying new pool (billiard) games, and more particularly, to new poolgames which incorporate a raised stand located on the playing surface ofa pool table.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The origination of pocket billiards can be traced back to Europe in the1500's. Typically, pocket billiards is played on a rectangular tablewith a plurality of drop pockets arranged around the playing surface.For example, the pool table 10 can have six pockets 12 arranged aroundthe periphery of the playing surface 24, one in each corner and two onthe sides, as illustrated in FIG. 1. Standard pool games use a pluralityof pool balls including a cue ball, wherein a player strikes the cueball with a pool cue in an attempt to hit one of the pool balls into apocket.

Over the years, several pool games have become very popular, namely8-ball and 9-ball. In 8-ball, the pool balls are divided into two sets,7 low numbered balls or “solids” and 7 high number balls or “strips”. Inaddition, there is a an object ball, i.e., the 8-ball. The basic formatof this game is that each player is assigned either solids or strips andthe player attempts to hit all of his/her assigned balls into thepockets of the pool table. Once a player has successfully hit all ofhis/her assigned balls into the pockets, the player attempts to hit the8-ball into a previously selected pocket. The game continues until aplayer successfully makes the 8-ball in the selected pocket.

9-ball uses 9 balls numbered 1 through 9. The balls are hit in rotation,meaning that they must be hit in numerical order starting with the1-ball. However, the balls do not need to be pocketed in sequence. Aslong as the cue ball hits the ball with the correct number first, anyball including the 9-ball may be sunk and the player is allowed tocontinue their turn. A player wins by legally sinking the 9-ball into apocket at any point during the game.

After playing 8-ball and 9-ball over and over again, some players willwant some variety in the games they play so they will look for new gamesto play. Over the past decades, people have devised many variations ofknown pool games. One problem with many of these new games is that poolplayers consider the games to be too gimmicky or introduce too much luckinto the game which goes against the basic principles of pool whichrequire skill and concentration.

Thus, there is a need for new pool games and apparatus which overcomesthe problems cited above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore a feature and advantage of the present invention toprovide new pool games and apparatus to be used in these games whichrequire skill and strategy.

According to one aspect of the invention, a method for playing a game ona pool table is disclosed. The method is comprising of the steps of:placing a plurality of pool balls in a starting position on the playingsurface of the pool table, wherein the plurality of pool balls iscomprised of an object ball and a plurality of different sets of poolballs; alternating turns between a plurality of players, wherein eachplayer attempts to hit balls from a set of pool balls assigned to thatplayer into pockets in the pool table using a pool cue and a cue ball;and hitting the object ball into an indentation on a top level of araised stand located on the playing surface of the pool table once aplayer has hit all of their assigned balls into the pockets, wherein thegame ends when the object ball comes to rest in the indentation on theraised stand.

According to another aspect of the invention, a gaming device to be usedon a playing surface of a pool table for playing a game of pool isdisclosed. The gaming device comprises: a raised stand located on theplaying surface of the pool table, the raised stand having sloped sidesthat lead from the playing surface up to a top level, wherein the toplevel comprises an indentation in which a pool ball can come to restafter advancing up the sloped sides.

According to another aspect of the invention, a pool table is disclosed.The pool table comprises: a substantially flat playing surface; a raisedbumper system surrounding the flat playing surface; and at least oneraised stand on the playing surface, wherein the at least on raisedstand has sloping sides that lead up from the playing surface to a toplevel, wherein the top level comprises an indentation in which a poolball can come to rest after advancing up the sloping sides

According to another aspect of the invention, a method for playing agame on a pool table is disclosed. The method is comprised of the stepsof: placing a plurality of pool balls in a starting position on aplaying surface of the pool table; and alternating turns between aplurality of players, wherein each player attempts to hit a ball fromthe plurality of pool balls into an indentation on at least one raisedstand located on the playing surface of the pool table by hitting a cueball with a pool cue.

According to another aspect of the invention, a computer readable mediumstoring code for simulating a pool game is disclosed. The codecomprises: code for placing a plurality of pool balls in a startingposition on the playing surface of the pool table, wherein the pluralityof pool balls is comprised of an object ball and a plurality ofdifferent sets of pool balls; code for alternating turns between aplurality of players, wherein each player attempts to hit balls from aset of pool balls assigned to that player into pockets in the pool tableusing a pool cue and a cue ball; and code for hitting the object ballinto an indentation on a top level of a raised stand located on theplaying surface of the pool table once a player has hit all of theirassigned balls into the pockets, wherein the game ends when the objectball comes to rest in the indentation on the raised stand.

According to another aspect of the invention, a computer readable mediumstoring code for simulating a pool game is disclosed. The codecomprises: code for placing a plurality of pool balls in a startingposition on a playing surface of the pool table; and code foralternating turns between a plurality of players, wherein each playerattempts to hit a ball from the plurality of pool balls into anindentation on at least one raised stand located on the playing surfaceof the pool table by hitting a cue ball with a pool cue.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more importantfeatures of the invention in order that the detailed description thereofthat follows may be better understood, and in order that the presentcontribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course,additional features of the invention that will be described below andwhich will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of theinvention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited in its application to the details of construction and to thearrangements of the components set forth in the following description orillustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of otherembodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways.Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminologyemployed herein, as well as the abstract, are for the purpose ofdescription and should not be regarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conceptionupon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basisfor the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carryingout the several purposes of the present invention. It is important,therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalentconstructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope ofthe present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with referenceto the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art pool table;

FIGS. 2( a)-(c) illustrate a perspective view of raised stands accordingto several embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a top view of a raised stand according to oneembodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 4( a)-(b) illustrate a side view of raised stands according toanother embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a raised stand with a plurality of indentationsaccording to another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a multilevel raised stand according to anotherembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a pool table with a raised stand according to oneembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates a pool table with a raised stand according to anotherembodiment of the invention,

FIG. 9 illustrates a pool table with a raised stand according to anotherembodiment of the invention,

FIG. 10 illustrates a large raised stand according to another embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 11 illustrates a pool table according to one embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 12 illustrates a pool table according to one embodiment of theinvention,

FIG. 13 illustrates a computer system according to one embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 14 illustrates a computer readable medium according to oneembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 15 illustrates a computer readable medium according to oneembodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 16( a)-(d) illustrate a raised stand according to one embodimentof the invention;

FIGS. 17( a)-(d) illustrate a raised stand according to one embodimentof the invention;

FIGS. 18( a)-(d) illustrate a raised stand according to one embodimentof the invention;

FIGS. 19( a)-(d) illustrate a raised stand according to one embodimentof the invention;

FIGS. 20( a)-(d) illustrate a raised stand according to one embodimentof the invention;

FIGS. 21( a)-(d) illustrate a raised stand according to one embodimentof the invention; and

FIG. 22 illustrates a raised stand according to one embodiment of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

According to one embodiment of the invention, at least one raised standis placed or attached to the playing surface of a pool table. The goalof the new pool games described below is to hit one or more pool ballsinto an indentation on the raised stand or stands. The specifics of theraised stands will now be described followed by a description of some ofthe new pool games which can be played using the raised stand or stands.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the raised stand 20 has sloping sides 22 whichlead up from the playing surface of a pool table 24 to a top level 26.The top level 26 has an indentation 28 in which a pool ball moving atthe correct speed may come to rest. FIG. 3 illustrates the raised stand20 as viewed from above and FIGS. 4( a)-(b) illustrate the raised stand20 as viewed from the side according to several different embodiments.As illustrated in FIG. 2, the raised stand can be substantially circularin shape, but the invention is not limited thereto. For example, theraised stand can have a shape that is substantially similar to a circle,triangle (illustrated in FIGS. 16( a)-(d)), square (illustrated in FIGS.17( a)-(d)), hexagon (illustrated in FIGS. 18( a)-(d)), pentagon(illustrated in FIGS. 19( a)-(d)), heptagon (illustrated in FIGS. 20(a)-(d)), octagon (illustrated in FIGS. 21( a)-(d)), or any other shape.

The indentation 28 can be a dip in the top level 26 with sloping sidesor the indentation 28 can be a hole with substantially vertical sides asillustrated in FIGS. 2( a)-(b). The hole may be substantially circularor square, but the invention is not limited thereto. In addition, theindentation 28 may take up a portion of the top level as illustrated inFIG. 2( a) or the indentation can take up substantially all of the toplevel as illustrated in FIG. 2( b). In addition, the indentation 28 maynot have a bottom surface in which case the raised stand 20 would beshaped like a ring with sloping sides which slope upwards toward themiddle of the raised stand as illustrated in FIG. 22.

The raised stand 20 may be constructed with various diameters andheight. Furthermore, the indentations can have various diameters anddepths, wherein the larger and deeper the indentation, the easier it isfor a ball to come to rest in the indentation. According to oneembodiment of the invention, the raised stand 20 has an outer diameterof approximately 4 inches with a substantially circular holeapproximately 2.75 inches in diameter. According to one embodiment ofthe invention, the raised stand 20 has an outer diameter ofapproximately 4.5 inches with a substantially circular holeapproximately 3 inches in diameter. According to one embodiment of theinvention, the raised stand 20 has an outer diameter of approximately5.5 inches with a substantially circular hole approximately 4 inches indiameter. According to one embodiment of the invention, the raised stand20 has an outer diameter of approximately 7 inches with a substantiallycircular hole approximately 5.5 inches in diameter. According to oneembodiment of the invention, the raised stand 20 has an outer diameterof approximately 13.5 inches with a substantially circular holeapproximately 12 inches in diameter. The raised stands 20 describedabove can have heights ranging from 0.125 to 1.5 inches but theinvention is not limited thereto. According to one embodiment of theinvention, the height of the raised stand 20 is approximately 0.38inches and the depth of the indentation 28 is approximately 0.26 inches.According to one embodiment of the invention, the slope of the slopingsides 22 is between 5°-70°, and preferably between 15°-45°, and morepreferably between 25°-30°, but the invention is not limited thereto.According to one embodiment of the invention, the slope of the slopingsides is approximately 28.87°.

The raised stand 20 can be constructed out of many materials comprisingat least one of metal, metal composite, plastic, wood, stone, glass,resin and/or rubber, but the invention is not limited thereto.Regardless of the material used, the stand must have a durometer valueof at least 10, and preferably have a durometer value of at least 25,and more preferably have a durometer value of at least 37. The raisedstand 20 can also comprise lights and/or sound making devices, whereinthe lights flash and/or the sound making devices make sounds when a ballcomes to rest in an indentation on the raised stand 20. For example, theweight of the ball (or composition of the ball) can close a switch whichcompletes a circuit which activates the lights and/or sound devices, butthe invention is not limited thereto. The lights and/or sound devicescan be arranged in any pattern and can be composed of any number oflights and/or sound devices.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the raised stand 20may have a plurality of indentations 56, 57, 58 on the top level 26, asillustrated in FIG. 5. The indentations can be of the same size or shapeor can have different sizes or shapes. For example, the indentations 56,57, 58 can have different diameters as illustrated in FIG. 5.Furthermore, a raised stand may have 2 or more levels, wherein slopedsides lead up from one level to the next. As illustrated in FIG. 6, theraised stand 40 has two levels 42 and 44. A first sloped side 46 leadsup from the surface of the pool table to the first level 42 and a secondsloped side 48 leads up from the first level 42 to the second level 44.In this embodiment, the raised stand has at least one indentation andone or more indentations can be located on one of the levels or aplurality of levels, but the invention is not limited thereto. Inaddition, a multilevel stand can be created by stacking single levelstands of different size on top of each other, but the invention is notlimited thereto.

The raised stands described above can be used to play a variety of newpool games. Some of these new pool games will now be described below butthe invention is not limited thereto.

According to one embodiment of the invention, a single raised stand isused and is located on the playing surface of a pool table. For example,a raised stand 20 is placed approximately in the middle of the pooltable 10 as illustrated in FIG. 7. Different sized raised stands can beused to change the difficulty of the game, wherein the difficulty of thegame generally increases as the dimensions of the raised stand and theindentation are reduced.

The first set of games to be described are a variation of 8-ball withthe incorporation of the raised stand into the game. To begin the game,a plurality of pool balls are placed (racked) in a starting position ona first spot 50, but the invention is not limited thereto. Asillustrated in FIG. 7, the game begins with 15 balls and a cue ball. The15 pool balls are racked using a triangular rack on the first spot 50.Alternatively, the game can begin with 9 balls racked with a diamondshaped rack on the first spot 50 as illustrated in FIG. 8.Alternatively, the game can begin with 7 balls racked by a circular rackon the first spot 50 as illustrated in FIG. 9. It will be understood byone skilled in the art that the balls can be racked in any location onthe table in any configuration and the invention is not limited thereto.

For example, the pool balls may be racked in such a manner that one ormore of the pool balls are located on the raised stand 20.

In all of the versions of the game described above (using 15, 9 or 7balls), the pool balls are divided into a plurality of sets. First, anobject ball, for example, the 8-ball, is designated. The remaining evennumber of balls are then divided into two sets, for example, solids andstrips. The object of this first set of games is to hit the object ballonto the raised stand with the correct speed so that the object ballcomes to rest in the indentation on the raised stand. If the object ballis legally hit onto the raised stand and the object ball comes to restin the indentation on the raised stand, the player who hit the objectball is declared the winner of the game.

To begin play, a player is selected to take the first shot, wherein theplayer hits the cue ball with a pool cue from behind the second spot 52to break apart the racked pool balls. If one of the pool balls goes intoa pocket during the first shot, the first player is awarded that set ofballs and the other player is awarded the other set of balls. If morethan a single ball is pocketed, the player is awarded the set of ballscorresponding to the set with the most balls that went in the pockets.If no ball are pocketed or if the same number of balls from each set arepocketed, no set is awarded until the next ball is hit into a pocket. Inthe alternative, one of the sets of balls can be assigned to each playerbefore play begins. If the object ball is hit into a pocket on thebreak, the object ball is placed on the first spot 50 and the gamecontinues. If the object ball ends up in the indentation on the raisedstand on the first shot, that player is declared the winner.

The players alternate turns hitting the cue ball in an attempt to hittheir assigned balls into the pockets of the pool table. When a playerhits one or more of their assigned balls into a pocket, the playerreceives another turn. Once the player has hit all of their assignedballs into the pockets of the pool table, the player then attempts tohit the object ball into the indentation in the raised stand 20.According to one embodiment of the invention, the player can hit theobject ball directly with the pool cue when attempting to hit the objectball into the indentation. Alternatively, the player must hit the cueball into the object ball to hit the object ball into the indentation inthe raised stand. The first player to legally hit the object ball intothe indentation on the raised stand is declared the winner of the game.

According to one embodiment of the invention, a player may attempt tohit the object ball onto the raised stand using the cue ball at any timeduring the game. If the player is successful in hitting the ball intothe indentation in the raised stand, the player is declared the winnerof the game.

According to one embodiment of the invention, any balls other than theobject ball hit into the indentation in the raised stand can beconsidered as a scratch and the ball is placed on the first spot 50 andthat player loses his turn. In the alternative, any ball hit into theindentation in the raised stand can be considered as pocketed and theball is placed in a pocket and the player receives another turn.

According to another embodiment of the invention, when a player isattempting to hit the object ball into the indentation on the raisedstand after pocketing all of their assigned balls, the object ball mustcome into contact with the raised stand or else the player is penalized.For example, the player may lose the game if the object ball does nothit the raised stand. Alternatively, the player must place one of theirpocketed balls back on the first spot 50 if the object ball does not hitthe stand. According to another embodiment of the invention, a playerloses the game if the object ball is pocketed at any time during theirturn.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a variation on the9-ball game is disclosed incorporating the use of a raised stand. Inregular 9-ball, players attempt to hit the balls in rotation, that isthey must be targeted in numerical sequence starting with the one ball.It is important to note that the balls do not necessarily need to bepocketed in numerical sequence. As long as the correct ball is truckfirst by the cue ball, any ball can be pocketed and the player isawarded another turn. The game continues until a player pockets the9-ball. According to this embodiment of the invention, instead ofpocketing the 9-ball to win the game, the players must hit the 9-ballinto the indentation in the raised stand to win the game. As in thetraditional game, a player can win at any point in the game bysuccessfully hitting the 9-ball into the indentation in the raised standso long as the cue ball strikes the correct ball first. In anotherembodiment of the invention, the 9-ball can be stuck directly with thepool cue if all of the other balls have been pocketed.

According to another embodiment of the invention, all of the pool ballsmust be hit into a single indentation in the raised stand. Thetraditional 8-ball and 9-ball game rules can be used except that theballs must be hit into the indentation on the raised stand rather thanthe pockets of the pool table. In one embodiment of the invention, theraised stand has an indentation 102 which is large enough to hold all ofthe pool balls 104 and the pool balls are not removed from the raisedstand when they are successfully hit onto the raised stand asillustrated in FIG. 10.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the above describedgames can be played with a plurality of raised stands located on thesurface of the pool table. The raised stands can have the same shape andsize or have different shapes and sizes. In addition, raised stands maybe placed near or on top of the pockets 12 of the pool table. In thisembodiment, pool balls must be hit into the indentations on the raisedstands rather than in the pockets 12. Furthermore, the object ball canbe hit onto any of the raised stands or only onto a specific raisedstand to win the game.

According to another embodiment of the invention, players can play agame where they are awarded points for successfully hitting pool ballsinto indentations on one or more raised stands. The raised stand 20 canhave a plurality of different sized indentations as illustrated in FIG.5, wherein a player receives different point values for hitting a poolball into different sized indentations. For example, a player mayreceive 1 point for hitting a ball into the large indentation 56, 2points for hitting a ball into the medium sized indentation 57, and 5points for hitting a ball into the small hole 58. The players take turnshitting the pool balls using the cue ball into the indentations on theraised stand and the first player to total a predetermined number ofpoints is declared the winner of the game. Alternatively, the same gamecan be played with a plurality of different sized raised stands withsingle or multiple indentations.

According to another embodiment of the invention, all of the gamesdescribed above and obvious variations thereof can be played with amultilevel raised stand as illustrated in FIG. 6. Furthermore, themultilevel raised stand can have one or more indentations.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a new pool tabledesign will now be described. As illustrated in FIG. 11, a pool table110 has a base or a set of legs 112 on which a playing surface 114 issupported. The playing surface is surrounded by a series of bumpers 116to keep the pool balls on the playing surface 114. The playing surfaceand the bumpers can be covered in felt but the invention is not limitedthereto. A plurality of pockets 118 can be optionally located around theperiphery of the playing surface 114, but the invention is not limitedthereto. A raised stand 120 with at least one indentation 122 isprovided on the playing surface 114. The raised stand 120 can bepermanently attached or be detachable from the pool table 110, whereinthe detachable raised stand is mounted in a mounting bracket in theplaying surface 114. The raised stand can be screwed into or snapped orotherwise secured to the mounting bracket but the invention is notlimited thereto. According to another embodiment of the invention, thepool table 110 can have a plurality of raised stands attached to theplaying surface 114. The pool table and the playing surface can have anyshape and size. For example, the pool table 110 can be rectangular inshape as illustrated in FIG. 11 or have a circular shape as illustratedin FIG. 12.

According to another embodiment of the invention as illustrated in FIG.13, the pool tables, pool games and raised stands described above canall be simulated on a computer system 130, wherein players can playvirtual pool on the computer system 130. The players communicate with acomputer 131 using a user interface 132, such as a game controller,joystick or keyboard but the invention is not limited thereto. Theplayers will use their user interfaces 132 to aim their shots and tocontrol how hard the pool balls are hit. A list of the pool gamesmentioned above can be displayed on a display screen 134 of the computersystem 130. The players can then select a game form the list using theuser interface 132. Furthermore, the players can select the level ofdifficulty of the game. In the alternative, the game can begin at asimple level and advance to harder levels of play once the present levelhas been successfully completed. In addition, the players can be able toset various variables in the game. For example, the players can be ableto select the size and shape of the playing surface, the size and shapeof the raised stands, the size and shape of the indentations on theraised stands, and even the location of optional obstacles on thevirtual playing surface and the invention is not limited thereto.

In another embodiment of the invention according to FIG. 14, acomputer-readable medium 140 is illustrated schematically. Thecomputer-readable medium 140 has embodied thereon a computer program 142for simulating a pool game, for processing by a computer 144. Thecomputer program comprises a code segment 146 for placing a plurality ofpool balls in a starting position on the playing surface of the pooltable, wherein the plurality of pool balls is comprised of an objectball and a plurality of different sets of pool balls; a code segment 147for alternating turns between a plurality of players, wherein eachplayer attempts to hit balls from a set of pool balls assigned to thatplayer into pockets in the pool table using a pool cue and a cue ball;and a code segment 148 for hitting the object ball into an indentationon a top level of a raised stand located on the playing surface of thepool table once a player has hit all of their assigned balls into thepockets, wherein the game ends when the object ball comes to rest in theindentation on the raised stand.

In another embodiment of the invention according to FIG. 15, acomputer-readable medium 150 is illustrated schematically. Thecomputer-readable medium 150 has embodied thereon a computer program 152for simulating a pool game, for processing by a computer 154. Thecomputer program comprises a code segment 156 for placing a plurality ofpool balls in a starting position on a playing surface of the pooltable; a code segment 158 for alternating turns between a plurality ofplayers, wherein each player attempts to hit a ball from the pluralityof pool balls into an indentation on at least one raised stand locatedon the playing surface of the pool table by hitting a cue ball with apool cue.

The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from thedetailed specification, and thus, it is intended by the appended claimsto cover all such features and advantages of the invention which fallwithin the true spirits and scope of the invention. Further, sincenumerous modifications and variations will readily occur to thoseskilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to theexact construction and operation illustrated and described, andaccordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resortedto, falling within the scope of the invention.

1-30. (canceled)
 31. A gaming device to be used on a playing surface ofa pool table for playing a game of pool, comprising: a raised standlocated on the playing surface of the pool table, the raised standhaving sloped sides that lead from the playing surface up to a toplevel, wherein the top level comprises an indentation in which a poolball can come to rest after advancing up the sloped sides.
 32. Thegaming device according to claim 31, wherein the indentation takes up aportion of the top level of the raised stand.
 33. The gaming deviceaccording to claim 31, wherein the indentation takes up substantiallyall of the top level of the raised stand.
 34. The gaming deviceaccording to claim 31, wherein the raised stand can have any number ofsides and shapes.
 35. The gaming device according to claim 34, whereinthe shape of the raised stand is substantially similar to a circle,triangle, square, hexagon or a pentagon.
 36. The gaming device accordingto claim 31, wherein the at least one indentation is a dip with slopingsides.
 37. The gaming device according to claim 31, wherein the at leastone indentation is a substantially circular hole with substantiallyvertical sides.
 38. The gaming device according to claim 31, wherein theraised stand is placed approximately in the center of the pool table.39. The gaming device according to claim 37, wherein the raised stand isapproximately 4 inches in diameter and the indentation is approximately2.75 inches in diameter.
 40. The gaming device according to claim 37,wherein the raised stand is approximately 5.5 inches in diameter and theindentation is approximately 4 inches in diameter.
 41. The gaming deviceaccording to claim 37, wherein the raised stand is approximately 7inches in diameter and the indentation is approximately 5.5 inches indiameter.
 42. The gaming device according to claim 37, wherein theraised stand is approximately 13.5 inches in diameter and theindentation is approximately 12 inches in diameter.
 43. The gamingdevice according to claim 31, wherein a plurality of raised stands arelocated on the playing surface of the pool table.
 44. The gaming deviceaccording to claim 31, wherein the raised stand is comprised of at leastone of metal, metal composite, plastic, wood, glass, resin, rubber orstone.
 45. The gaming device according to claim 31, wherein the raisedstand has multiple levels with multiple ramps and at least oneindentation on a top level of the raised stand.
 46. The gaming deviceaccording to claim 45, wherein the raised stand has at least oneindentation on multiple levels.
 47. The gaming device according to claim31, wherein the top surface of the raised stand has a plurality ofindentations.
 48. The gaming device according to claim 47, wherein theplurality of indentations have different sizes. 49-95. (canceled) 96.The gaming device according to claim 33, wherein the indentation isbottomless.
 97. The gaming device according to claim 96, wherein theraised stand is shaped like a ring with sloping sides that slope uptoward the middle of the raised stand.
 98. The gaming device accordingto claim 37, wherein the raised stand is approximately 4.5 inches indiameter and the indentation is approximately 3 inches in diameter. 99.The gaming device according to claim 37, wherein the raised stand has adiameter between 3.25 inches and the indentation has a diameter between1-4 inches.
 100. The gaming device according to claim 44, wherein theraised stand has a durometer value greater than
 10. 101. The gamingdevice according to claim 44, wherein the raised stand has a durometervalue greater than
 25. 102. The gaming device according to claim 44,wherein the raised stand has a durometer value greater than
 37. 103. Thegaming device according to claim 31, wherein the sloping sides have aslope between 5°-70°.
 104. The gaming device according to claim 31,wherein the sloping sides have a slope between 15°-45°.
 105. The gamingdevice according to claim 31, wherein the sloping sides have a slopebetween 25°-30°.
 106. The gaming device according to claim 31, whereinthe sloping sides have a slope of approximately 26.87°.
 107. The gamingdevice according to claim 33, wherein the indentation has a depth of atleast 0.125 inches.
 108. The gaming device according to claim 33,wherein the indentation has a depth of at least 0.26 inches.
 109. Thegaming device according to claim 31, wherein the raised stand has aheight of at least 0.125 inches.
 110. The gaming device according toclaim 31, wherein the raised stand has a height of at least 0.37 inches.